Proposal for a myofunctional therapy protocol in case of altered lingual frenulum. A pilot study

In this article, the authors propose a specificMyofunctional Therapy Protocol for patients withaltered lingual frenulum. In such cases tonguemuscles are hypofunctioning and their rangeof motion is reduced. To compensate for thislimitation, dysfunctional lingual motor patternsare established, such as the use of some musclesat the expense of others; this negatively affects thedevelopment and functions of the stomatognathicsystem. The Myofunctional Therapy Protocolpresented in this pilot study was developed with theaim of making the muscles of the tongue, the floorof the mouth and the soft palate more coordinated,and increasing muscle contraction strength, in orderto produce improvements on the muscle tone, onorofacial and nasal functions and a better woundhealing and functional recovery in the case ofsurgical therapy (frenulotomy).